At the Beginning
by Hyuuga Ayame
Summary: [AU] DH spoilers What would happen if someone was given the chance to change EVERYTHING?  He could stop the traitor from ever becoming friends with them …He could save them all…He knew he could.  A time travel fic
1. Prologue

At the Beginning

By: Hyuuga Ayame

Summary[AU DH spoilers (If you haven't read it by now go read it!!!) What would happen if someone was given the chance to change EVERYTHING? He could stop the traitor from ever becoming friends with them …He could save them all…He knew he could. A time travel fic.

Disclaimer: I own nothing otherwise Sirius would never have died in the 5th book…or the veil would lead to my closet so I could keep him (Note:: The disclaimer is only going to be in this first chapter 'cause I don't feel like writing it ten thousand times k? So don't yell at me when you notice that there's no disclaimer in the other chapters.)

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"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

"YELLING"

**Writing**

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Prologue: Of Space and Time

He could hear nothing around him…not even the sound of his own beating heart. Everything around him was pitch black. He tried to open his eyes, thinking that there could be no way for anything to be this black without his eyes being closed but found them to be already open. '_Where…?_' was the only thought in his head.

"Hello Sirius Black."

Everything rushed back at once at the sound of his name. Flashes of memory…His first meetings with James, Remus…and Peter…His sorting…Meeting Snape…Lily…no she was still 'Evans' back then…Finding out about Remus…Creating the Marauders…Evans yelling at James…Him becoming Padfoot for the first time…The incident with Snape after the OWLS…The incident in 6th year with Snape and the Wimping Willow…Lily and James finally getting together…Graduation…Auror training…The Order of the Phoenix…Harry being born…Voldemort…Peter's betrayal…Azkaban…Escaping…Seeing his godson once more…Harry and Remus believing him…the Tri-wizard Tournament…The Department of Mysteries…Bellatrix…Harry screaming…. _'Harry! I was there trying to protect him! I have to protect him!__'_ He tried to move…any direction but found that his body wasn't responding. _'What's happening? Why can't I move?'_ His thoughts started to move towards panic.

"Fear not. Your Godson is fine."

Sirius's eyes snapped left and right to try to find the source of the voice. There was a bright flash in front of him and a man was suddenly standing there. The man looked old, his skin wrinkled with age lines, eyes that seemed to be able to pierce Sirius' very soul. He reminded Sirius of an older and wiser Albus Dumbledore, though the man's eyes were much more serious than Albus' ever were. Sirius tried to open his mouth to ask the figure where the hell they were, why he couldn't move, and where the bloody hell was his godson, but found his mouth to be just as unmovable as the rest of his body.

"That is because I wanted you to remain still while I explain some things to you." The old man stated. "My name is Chronos and you have been brought here because there are some of us that are not happy with the turn of events on Earth."

_'Us?...Who the hell is this guy talking about? And how the hell does he know whether Harry is alright or not?!_' Sirius shouted in his mind, utterly lost and worried about Harry.

"You are confused…And worried about your charge. I will first assuage your fears then I can explain our proposal." The man moved forward towards where Sirius stood, "Before I show you anything, I should tell you that you have been in a state of sleep for about 2 earth years. The events you are going to witness are spread throughout those years." Before Sirius could fully process what the man had said, a boney finger touched his forehead.

Images flew by in Sirius' mind. He watched Harry scream after him as he fell through the veil, watched as Remus forcibly restrained Harry from running to the veil, watched Bellatrix laugh and run off, watched Harry chase after her when Remus' arms slacked for just an instant, watched as Harry used the Curious Curse on Bellatrix, watched the battle between Voldemort and Dumbledore, watched Harry's summer that he spent in depression, watched the turmoil of Harry's 6th year, watched Dumbledore explain Horcruxes to Harry, watched as Harry and Dumbledore went to get the locket only to find it already gone with only a note remaining, watched Dumbledore tell Snape to end his life if it came to that if only to insure Snape's place within the Death Eaters, watched Dumbledore's end, watched Harry, Hermione, and Ron go on their suicidal Horcrux hunt, learned of the real fate of his brother, Regulus, watched the Battle of Hogwarts, watched Remus die, watched Harry 'die' only for him to come back to life, watched as Voldemort was defeated, and watched the grief that everyone experienced for the fallen.

When all of the images stopped and Sirius came back to himself, he felt hot tears streaming down his face. '_Remus…oh god.'_ Grief at both his friend's death and Harry's almost death overwhelmed Sirius life a tidal wave. In the wake of Voldemort's defeat, Sirius wasn't sure whether to be happy or not. The victory in Sirius' opinion came at too high of a cost, just as the first downfall of that monster had been.

"Grieve not, for I can give you a chance to correct all the mistakes of the future," the old man's voice said, "a chance to save the ones that you hold dear. A chance to change the wrongs of this pathetic war, but only if you are ready to sacrifice something."

It took Sirius a few seconds fully understand what the older man was telling him. He looked at him with both disbelief and confusion in his eyes. _'Change?...how?'_ Sirius asked in his head, hoping that the man would understand what he wanted to ask.

"It is rather simple actually, I will be sending you back to the year 1971 a few months before you are to head off to Hogwarts," the old man said with a chuckle. "From there it will be up to you to change how the war will turn out. All of the knowledge that you have now will stay with you. It will be up to you to remember what you have learned and the events of the years to follow." The man sat down on a large chair the had appeared behind him. "In order for you not to be too heavily studied by the Ministry and Dumbledore, it would be wise to establish yourself as quickly as possible as a seer. Athena will gift you with the ability to draw out your memories so that you don't need to think of rhymes or have to change your voice any," the old man said humor in his voice.

Sirius just blinked. _'__…__Wait….__Chronos…__Athena? As in…?'_

"You're just now working that out? Hn, maybe we picked the wrong person for this assignment. Yes Athena the Goddess of Knowledge, and I am Chronos the God of Eternal Time. Like I mentioned earlier we are going to rewind time in order to give you a second chance at life," Chronos said blandly. "So do you accept?"

Sirius blinked one more time before he slowly began to work out every last thing that might possibly be wrong with this. The year or so following Azkaban had helped Sirius learn to think things through (although this ability failed miserably whenever his godson was involved). Could he really risk bringing Voldemort back to life when there was a strong possibility that he could fail and then there would be nothing in Voldemort's way. For Remus, James, and Lily? _'I bloody well can!!'_

"Then you will accept? Good, now remember to alert Dumbledore to the presence of the Horcruxes before the prophecy or go out and destroy them yourself. Which ever you may choose, remember to exercise caution Sirius Black."

'_I'll do this! I can change the fate of the world and my friends won't have to die. I'll save everyone that died for no reason. I swear it,_' Sirius thought heatedly to himself.

The old man waved his hand, and Sirius began to feel a warm sensation around his body. The dark area suddenly became overwhelmingly bright. Colors danced in his vision and the light somehow seemed to spin. Just as the lights started to become overbearing, he heard the god say something to him.

"And some words of advice before you head off on your journey, do try not to target anyone in your infamous pranks. What might have seemed as small things at the time turned Severus Snape into the man that he was in your godson's time. He will be important in this war, so do not turn him away lightly. And remember you are now the Gods' chosen one so when you feel that you need help the most, reach out your mind to us and we will do our best to answer."

And then everything went dark.

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So what did you think? Good? Bad? Please review so I can see what you guys think ok? Just as a warning, Sirius is probably going to be a little OC because I need to make him have a somewhat level head for this to work. My excuse is that Azkaban leveled out his head quite a bit but all of that level headiness gets chucked to the wind whenever Harry is involved.

I know the whole go back in time to fix everything isn't all that original but I love those kind of stories and thought that I would add my own original twist to it. I've never seen a Sirius-goes-back-in-time story where he gets to change the future so I thought that it might be a good thing to try. The next chapter should be up soon!

Ayame


	2. Chapter 1

At the Beginning

By: Hyuuga Ayame

Summary[AU DH spoilers What would happen if someone was given the chance to change EVERYTHING? He could stop the traitor from ever becoming friends with them …He could save them all…He knew he could. A time travel fic.

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"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

"YELLING"

**Writing**

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Chapter 1: Of Sneaking and Planning

When Sirius opened his eyes there was once again darkness. But the difference between the…_'where ever the hell that place was' _and this new place was that Sirius recognized this new place that he was in. It was his old room at Grimmauld Place. He sat up in his bed and did a survey of the room. The room itself had very little in it. There was the huge bed that he himself laid on, a large dresser for his clothes, two doors, one that lead out to the hallway and the other to a bathroom, and a small bedside table that was on Sirius' left.

Sirius slowly pulled back the covers and got up out of bed. As he walked over to the mirror that hung on the wall by the dresser, he began to think of what he should do first. When he reached the mirror he was met with the face that he hadn't seen since his third year at Hogwarts when he hit puberty. His wavy black hair was just barely long enough to dust the top of his collar and his face looked healthy, even a bit tan in the darkness of his room. His body was that of a slightly scrawny 11 year old with very little muscle. The thing that shocked him the most however was his eyes. Although they still looked slightly haunted by the experiences of the future, they looked just slightly less so than they would. Maybe it was because Sirius himself now had hope or because his eyes weren't sunken into a gaunt face as they would be when he escaped Azkaban. _'Did I really ever look this young and innocent?...Bloody hell was I short back then…now…what ever it is.'_ Stopping his train of thought that was becoming increasingly confusing, Sirius thought of what to do next. _'First things first, start writing everything that I can remember into a book of some sort but make it so that I'm the only one that can read it.'_

Sirius looked around the room again and spotted his _'old?…no new'_ Hogwarts trunk in the corner of the room. _'So I've already gone to Diagon Alley with my parents…that means that the date is somewhere past August 11__th__ 1971. Which means I have less than a month to prepare for the train ride.'_ Sirius quickly searched through his trunk for the self-updating calendar that he knew was in there somewhere. After searching for about 10 minutes, he final let out a soft noise of triumph as he pulled the small calendar out of the trunk. The words **FRIDAY AUGUST 13****TH** jumped out of the page at him. _'Ok that gives me about half a month of planning…'_ Sirius quietly sighed, _'I guess there's no time to start like the present…' _He quickly turned back to his trunk to find something that could be used to store all of the information. His second search didn't reveal as promising results as his first one. Rolls of parchment were nice but he needed something more like one of those muggle notebooks that Lily had always used in school. _'I guess I'll have to sneak out and get one later on…'_ That problem solved, Sirius quickly put everything back into his trunk. _'Now, how the bloody hell am I going to get out of here unnoticed…' _Sirius did a quick mental catalog of every passage that he knew out of the house and when his parents had found out about each of them. _'That one in the attic should still be ok 'cause they didn't know about it 'til third year…' _

Grabbing his 'new' wand, Sirius cast a quick Tempus charm,**6:42 AM **(A/N Underage magic isn't monitored by the ministry until students get to Hogwarts. Because the wands are new, most children need a few days to get used to using their particular wand. How else would Hermione have been able to practice a couple spells before getting to Hogwarts ). Sirius quickly threw on something that could be considered Muggle and crept to the door of his room. His parents probably wouldn't be up until about 7:30, or maybe even 8:00 if he was lucky, and the muggle stores were only 10 minutes away. Now all he needed to worry about was Kretcher. He stuck his head out of his room and looked both ways cautiously. Slowly stepping out and closing his door, he again looked down the hall both ways. His years of sneaking around Hogwarts caused him to learn to be silent when he needed to be and to listen to the things around you. He heard Regulus' breathing from the room that was across the hall and the creaking of the house as the wind outside pushed against it. Sirius darted down the hall and up the flight of stairs to the attic with hardly any noise. Luck seemed to be on Sirius' side because it was quite windy outside which covered up the few noises that Sirius did make.

After making up the stairs, Sirius silently opened the door the attic and looked around. After peering into the darkness for a few minutes and not seeing any movement, Sirius slowly closed the door behind him and crept toward the passageway that was hidden behind one of the old mirrors that had apparently been there since before his parents moved in. After moving the mirror out enough that he could get behind it to the tunnel, Sirius got on his hands and knees to crawl through the small space towards his freedom. He reached the ladder that ran down the inside of the house in a few seconds then began to climb down to the small tunnel that would lead out under the next yard over, out of a trap door that was under a bush and had a muggle repellent charm on it.

'_Now I remember why my parents didn't bother to close this one up…they thought that I would be too big to get through it after 3__rd__year'_ Sirius thought wryly as he reached the bottom. The passage was pretty small but as an eleven year old, Sirius didn't have any problems getting through the cramped space. In fact, the tunnel wouldn't begin to get too small for him until at least 4th year and by then he had almost become an animagus. Padfoot could easily get through the tight passageway.

After navigating the tunnel at the bottom, Sirius swung the trap door down and stuck his head out into the rose bushes that guarded it's entrance. The cool morning air blew against his face and the light of the sun was just starting to peek out over the trees. He quickly climbed out of the bush and began to head towards where the muggle stores were. _'I am never telling my parents that they should just move the next time they start yelling about living in a muggle neighborhood. It's far too convenient for me to be here.'_

As he reached the small muggle shopping area that he remembered was there in his youth, he looked around for the bookstore that should have been at the beginning of the strip. Instead of a bookstore however, there was a tailor shop and an ice cream store. _'That's right, that bookstore was brand new in my 3__rd__ year. Now what?'_ After looking around for a few minutes, he spotted the sign **Books and Things** over a small shop that was tucked away in a small corner. He quickly walked over and into the store.

The store was crowded with books. The shelves were tightly packed together and there were books scattered about the store floor along the walls. The smell of dust and mold was strong throughout the store. Towards the back of the shop there was a small counter that was also littered with books. A man with graying hair sat behind the counter with his eyes shut and his head in his hands. On the wall behind the counter there was a large clock that read **7:08. **As the door swung shut there was the sound of a bell ringing which caused the shop keep to sit up sharply in an effort to appear that he wasn't sleeping in the first place.

He blinked once before addressing Sirius. "Well well now aren't you a little young to be up this early and without your parents lad?" he said in a kind voice.

Sirius, resisting the urge to yell that his parents could go to hell for all he cared and that he was 35 thank-you-very-much, instead said, "I was wondering if you sell any diaries or journals here."

The older man blinked at the blunt question and blatant attempt to avoid the shop keep's initial question. "Yes of course lad," he said recovering quickly, "they're right over here." The man got up from his seat at the counter and began walking towards the back corner of the shop where Sirius could now see new looking books that were thinner than every other book the store. "Is there any particular style or color that you want son? I've got a these nice ones that have the locks on them so that no one can read them without getting the key from you first or – "

"Which ones are the cheapest?" Sirius asked, interrupting the man.

The older man chuckled a bit. "Straight to the point aren't you lad? I like that." He reached towards the bottom shelf and pulled out a few warn looking journals. "These are a bit older but they still look very nice. Gives it an old rustic feel 'cause of the leather. Course, everyone now a days want the new ones that have the locks and stuff on them…" He scratched his head thoughtfully. "Anyway, I've only got these three colors if you want this kind of journal." The man held out three journals, one black, one a dark forest green, and the last one a royal blue.

Sirius studied them for a second before reaching for the blue one. "This one", he said with a nod, "how much?" Sirius hoped that it wasn't more than a few pounds because he only had a £5 note.

The shop keep look at the small boy in front of him for a few seconds. "What's you're name lad?"

"Sirius Black, sir."

The old man smiled. "The dog star, huh?" He studied Sirius for a few moments then let out a little chuckle, "It suits you. Tell you what 'cause I like your attitude and these journals would have sat here for quite a while anyway, I'll give it to you for £2 (A/N I really have no clue how much that would be back in the '70s but right now that's about 4 US dollars now). Sound like a deal?"

Sirius smiled widely and nodded. Sirius quickly handed over the note to the man. "Thank you mister…?"

"Davies. Jonas Davies", the man said with a wide smile. He walked back over to the counter and pulled out the register. After handing Sirius his change, the man put a hand on Sirius' shoulder. "Don't be a stranger lad, come visit me whenever you need a new book. Or you need to get out of that house of yours."

Sirius looked up in shock at the man. "How…?"

"Everybody in this area know who the Blacks are son," the man said, "Not too many of us like them either. Never come out of that house of theirs, it seems. That and I saw a rather ugly look come over your face when I mentioned your parents." Sirius opened his mouth to speak but the man put a hand up. "Don't worry about it. Just remember that you have somewhere close by that you can run to if you need it, ok?"

Sirius studied the man for a few seconds before his face broke out into a grin. "Thanks Mr. Davies!" The older man just smiled and waved him on his way.

After leaving the store, Sirius noticed how light it was getting outside. He quickly ran back towards his house in an effort to get there before his parents got out of bed. He quickly found the trap door and raced on all fours towards the ladder that would lead back to the attic. As he was climbing up the ladder, Sirius heard a noise from within the house. _'Shoot! They must have gotten up already…'_ Sirius' mind was headed into overdrive. _'I've got to get back to my room NOW!!' _ Sirius practically flew up the ladder and out of the tunnel that lead to the attic. Once the mirror was in place, he raced towards the door, flew down the stair case, and came to a halt at the bottom. Kretcher was there cleaning the area around one of the paintings.

After shouting quite a few choice words in his head, he furiously tried to think of something to get him past Kretcher unnoticed. _'Ok, calm down and think. What would make Kretcher move away from this area and not suspect me of doing…'_ He began to search the room with his eyes but was still drawing a blank. Then he happened to look down and saw his small body. _'Wait…anything that could be considered high level magic would work because I hadn't been to school to learn them at 11!' _Looking down the hallway past where his and Regulus' room was, he saw a vase. _'There! REDUCTO!' _As the red beam shot at the vase, Sirius quickly ducted behind a statue that was at the base of the stairs. The vase shattered and Kretcher raced up the stair case where the beam came from. Sirius leaped out from behind the statue and into his room before Kretcher came back down the stairs to go fix the vase.

Only once he got back into his bed with the journal safely tucked away underneath his pillow did Sirius breath again. _'That was close'_ Sirius thought to himself. _'Now to clean out my wand…'_ He quickly cast a few easy first year charms so that he could claim that he had been practicing before going to Hogwarts in order to hide the Reducto that he had just cast. While there shouldn't be any reason for them to suspect him, he didn't want to take any chances. He then laid his wand on the bedside table and pulled out the journal. _'And now the hard part….where to start.' _Sirius sat for a moment deciding what to write down in the journal first. After a moment he opened the journal and began to write. _'I guess what the Horcruxes were and what they looked like would be as good a place as any to start.'_ Sirius quickly wrote down the names, dates of creation if he knew them, and locations of each of them.

After finishing the writing portion of the Horcrux entries, Sirius paused. _'I guess this would be as good of a time as any to try out that thing that Chronos said Athena would give me. …How exactly does it work?'_ Sirius blinked a couple times. _'Maybe I'm just supposed to start drawing what I remember…'_ He picked up the colored quills that his mother had gotten him years ago in an attempt to get him to learn to draw and began to concentrate on the memory of the Slytherin locket. Sirius was soon so absorbed in the memory of the locket that he didn't realize the passage of time or the movement of his hand. When he final snapped out of the trance that he created, the locket had been drawn onto the page in perfect likeness of the actual locket. _'O..k….I guess that's how that works…'_ Quickly visualizing the other 5 objects, he wasn't going to let Harry become a Horcrux no matter what, he just let the trance take over and let the objects be drawn onto the page.

Looking at his work, Sirius nodded happily. He quickly checked the time, got up, hid the journal deep within his trunk, got back in his bed and quickly began to plan. _'Kretcher should be coming in soon. Then I have to go eat breakfast with Regulus, Mother and Father. Now I have two choices, one don't clue them in that I'm a "seer" or draw something that I remember happening a few days before Hogwarts. I guess the second option would be best in case Dumbledore or one of the teachers find out and try to tell my parents…Especially Slughorn…that way they've already gotten over the shock and I won't get any more Howlers than necessary. But what's an event that's going to happen in a few days that I can draw?'_

As Sirius sat there on his bed racking his memory for something that would happen in the next couple days, there was a loud pop near the door. Standing there was Kretcher, who even though he was twenty some odd years younger, still looked the same as Sirius last saw him. The deranged house elf seemed surprised at something though. _'What the hell is he surprised for? It's not like I'm doing anything that all that….'_ Sirius trailed off in his mind as he realized that as a child he had been one of the heaviest sleepers and almost never got up on his own unless it was after noon.

"Young Master is already up? Mistress will be pleased. You's is to get ready for breakfast because your esteemed grandfather is coming over." Kretcher said with a neutral tone then disappeared with a pop. Sirius' jaw had almost dropped open in complete shock but recovered his wits before doing so.

'_That's right, he still tolerated me when I was ten. He didn't start to hate me until after my first year at Hogwarts._' Sirius felt a headache coming on. '_This is going to get tiring._' Then something came to Sirius that made him want to bash his head in a wall. '_Bloody…!! I still have to be nice to my parents…I still wanted them to accept me and be a perfect little pureblood when I was ten._' Sirius sighed. _'Luckily I only have to do that for a couple more weeks….Any longer and I would snap.'_

That crisis adverted, Sirius got up from bed. Then he once again froze. _'Wait…did Kretcher say my grandfather was coming over…?'_ A smile quickly spread over his face. _'I can use him to establish the whole seer thing! He died a few days before I went to Hogwarts!' _Sirius quickly raced to his dresser to throw on clothes that his mother would find acceptable and raced downstairs to the dinning area, ideas swimming in his head the entire way.

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Hey I know that characters seem a little OCC (especially Kretcher """) but I figured that Sirius' parents didn't start to hate him and belittle him until he was sorted into Gryffindor. I'm also guessing that the first time that Sirius went to Hogwarts he hadn't wanted to get into Gryffindor and only came to hate his whole family after being in Gryffindor for a while. After all, if you grew up a certain way, you would only know that way until you found something different. Oh and just to note, Sirius' grandfather didn't die in the books until 1991 but I needed someone to die and well, he's really not important in the books so I figured no one would care """""

Also, Kretcher is a really hard character to write because of the way that house elves speak TT . Oh! Can anyone tell me a few more British curse words/phrases? I really don't know that many and "bloody" is going to get old really really fast (and I don't want to resort to American slang """"" ).

I also want to thank everyone who reviewed the prologue and am really happy that you liked my story

Ayame


	3. Chapter 2

At the Beginning

By: Hyuuga Ayame

Summary[AU DH spoilers What would happen if someone was given the chance to change EVERYTHING? He could stop the traitor from ever becoming friends with them …He could save them all…He knew he could. A time travel fic.

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"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

"YELLING"

**Writing**

(POV change)

_//Flashback//_

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Chapter 2: Of Purebloods and Brothers

When Sirius entered the dinning room, both of his parents were sitting in their proper places with his father at the head of table and his mother on the other end which was 8 seats away from his father. If hadn't already mental prepared himself before walking into the room he would have gone into shock. The biggest shock was his mother. After looking at that bloody portrait for 2 years, Sirius couldn't remember her ever being classified as "pretty." Unlike the hag that sat in the portrait of 12 Grimmauld Place in 1995, Walburga Black still had sleek black hair and a petite pale face. Her eyes where not wild and crazed but calm and cold, a pitch black that seemed to be made out of actual stone. His father on the other hand was a lot less of a shock. Orion Black hadn't changed at all from Sirius' memory. He still had slightly long black hair, although it was shorter, with ice blue eyes that seemed slightly warmer, though not by much, than he remembered. He had died shortly after Sirius left school and Sirius hadn't seen him, portrait or otherwise, since he was 16. Sirius let out an almost inaudible sigh. _'This is going to be a very long few weeks.'_ He silently walked towards the seat on his father's right.

As Sirius pulled out the chair, his younger brother Regulus walked into the room. Regulus had a small smile and a slight bounce in his step. As the second son, his actions weren't as controlled as Sirius' had been when he was younger. Regulus looked so young and innocent as his eyes lit up upon seeing his elder brother that Sirius almost wanted to cry. Sirius remembered that before starting Hogwarts, he and Regulus had been very close, though that changed as soon as they were sorted into different houses. It was also the first time he had seen Regulus since learning the true reason for his death.

"Sirius," came his father's sharp voice, snapping Sirius out of his trance. Sirius quickly looked to his father's face and saw that he was looking sternly at him. A quick peek at his father's plate showed that the food had arrived and that Sirius was spacing out. Not showing any embarrassment, _'I don't care what they think of me'_, Sirius began eating. Silence descended on the table, though that was a common occurrence.

When Sirius was almost done eating, his father spoke once more. "As you know, my father is coming later today. Sirius," he said looking directly at his son, "you will be spending the day with him going over spells. You are going to Hogwarts soon and will be representing the Black family. Do not embarrass our noble family."

Sirius could remember the first time that he heard this little speech from his father and remembered sitting taller, trying to impress him and take pride in the family. But now he just gazed at his father, taking in the veiled threat that simmered just beneath the surface of his cool tone and realizing, not for the first time, how much of a fool he was when he was younger. _'They really never did love me did they?' _Though he knew that he hated his family and everything they stood for, there had always been the lingering question within the back of his mind whether they had ever cared about him at all.

After a few seconds of staring at one another Sirius finally turned adverted his eyes and replied with an almost dismissive, "Yes, father." The table once more descended into silence with only the sounds of silverware knocking slightly against the china plates.

When the silence was beginning to drive Sirius mad, he quickly excused himself and hightailed it up to his room. _'This is going to be a long, long month._' Sirius thought again with a sigh. He sat down on the edge of his bed then laid back, putting his arms behind his head. The world of his childhood had been one that Sirius had no desire to relive yet here he was, once again sitting in the very house that he hated more than any other place that he had been forced to stay, bar only Azkaban.

As he lay there on his childhood bed, looking at the ceiling that he had memorized before second year (he hadn't wanted to leave his room and face his parents' wrath at him being in Gryffindor), Sirius' mind began to wander. He began think of the last year that he had spent in this horrid place in order to avoid the Ministry, of Harry, Remus, and the time that could have been spent with them. Just thinking about his godson and his dead friend made him want to cry. He could see Remus' death playing over and over in his mind, and a small tear escaped his eye. He could feel it sliding down his face as another one formed in his other eye but he made no move to remove it.

Just as Sirius closed his eyes in resignation, there was a quiet knock on the door. Sirius cracked one eye open, thinking that he might have imagined the sound._'Can't be father because he wouldn't knock that quietly, mother would have had Kretcher bring me to her, so that would leave…'_ Before he could finish that particular thought, the door cracked open slightly and a head of black hair stuck itself through the door.

Regulus looked around Sirius' room before spotting Sirius on the bed looking at him. His blue-grey eyes lit up as he noticed his brother and bounded into the room over to where Sirius was now sitting up. "Sirius!" Regulus said, barely containing his happiness at seeing his older brother. Sirius had been busy with their parents ever since getting his Hogwarts letter and Regulus missed the time that they had spent together. After all they were all each other had. Their mother had decided that no one outside of the Black family was considered acceptable playmates for her "perfect sons." The only possible playmates were Bella, Nari, and Andy but they were all girls, and he didn't want to play with them. While it made Regulus very happy that his mother was so proud of him and not just of Sirius, it also lead him to rely on the very brother that he had come to envy.

Regulus snapped out of his thoughts after a couple of seconds only to see Sirius staring at him with a strange emotion within his eyes. Sirius had never looked at him like that before. _'He almost looks sad…or afraid…'_the thought came unbidden to Regulus' mind. "Sirius…?" Regulus asked hesitantly, suddenly fearing the emotions that he could see swirling within the depths of Sirius' blue eyes.

Sirius had been sitting frozen looking at his brother ever since he had opened the door and stepped into his room. His mind had blanked. It was really the first time he had truly looked at his brother since coming back to the past. He drank in the smile that Regulus' face and the look of happiness with buried envy that shown through Reg's eyes like a man drowning. While on the outside Sirius had never really shown that his brother's death had bothered him all that much, it had really hurt him. Standing in front of him wasn't the boy that Sirius' own mother had poisoned with lies against him, but the boy who looked up to him, that hung off of Sirius' every little word like it was a god speaking. _'This is my brother…the one who I missed so much at Hogwarts…the one that used to be my only friend in the world.'_ Sirius asked himself how he had ever left Regulus here, in this house, in this cold hatred that his parents preached. '_Why didn't I take you with me…'_

_// His room looked like a disaster zone. Everything was lying around over the ground. Sirius pushed everything that he could find in his room that he even remotely cared about into his trunk. He could hear his mother screaming downstairs through his door. He wiped away a stray tear and continued to stuff things into his school trunk._

_Once everything was inside, he grabbed his cloak and wand off of his bed. He quickly tried to bust the locks on his window that his mother had put there in order to prevent Sirius from writing his "filthy half-breed and blood traitor friends". When that didn't work, he pointed his wand at the door, cast a silencing charm, turned back to the window and shouted "REDUCTO". The window shattered and Sirius pushed away the rest of the remains of the window and dragged his trunk over to it._

_At the sound of the door opening, he whipped around and pointed his wand straight at the intruder, there was no way that he wasn't going to get out of this house tonight, no matter what. Standing there was Regulus with an unreadable look on his face as he surveyed the destroyed room. His eyes finally traveled back to Sirius who was still standing there with his wand raised._

"_You're leaving then?" Regulus asked without any inflection in his voice. The brothers stood there looking at one another before Sirius turned away without answering. He quickly pushed his trunk out of the window where it hit the hedges below. He then turned back and looked at his brother._

_The two looked at each other for a few minutes, their eyes fighting some unspoken battle. Regulus was the first to break the intense gaze and his eyes drifted to the floor and his body took the stance of someone defeated. He let out a sigh. "You're choosing them then? Those friends of yours? What about me?" His voice was starting to let anger show through, "I'm your brother! Why are you leaving?!" The unspoken question of "why are you abandoning me?" rang throughout the room._

_Sirius stared at Regulus for a moment. He sighed and looked back towards the window. He needed to get out of here fast or his mother would find out he was running away which would ruin his plans completely. "I can't stay here Regulus. I just can't stay in this house any longer" he whispered softly but there was such silence in the room that there was no mistaking what he said._

"_Fine" Regulus said, his tone completely cold, bitter, and biting. Regulus' body was shaking with the pain that he felt in his heart as he watched his brother hoist himself up onto the window seal. In a voice that was laced with pain, longing, hatred, and anger he said the last words that Sirius ever heard from him before he died. "Go to run to your NEW family."_

_Sirius froze for a split second before speaking, "Good bye Regulus." With that he jumped out of the window into the bushes below where he had hid his broom the day before. He never looked back and flew full speed towards James' house.//_

Sirius asked himself for the first time ever whether Regulus might have gone with him that night if had asked. _'This time I'm getting you out of here…I won't abandon you this time…'_ The pain of that night and the fear of losing his younger again if he didn't do something to change what happened tore at Sirius' heart. It was only Regulus calling his name that snapped him out of his memories.

Sirius blinked the memory away and focused on the 10 year old Regulus that stood in front of him. When he saw the slightly frightened look that was on his face, Sirius quickly brushed all of the painful feelings that were left over from the memories away and grinned broadly at his younger brother. Regulus seemed to relax slightly, though you could tell by his eyes that he was confused. _'And he should be…he's never seen me act like this before…' _Sirius berated himself,_ 'I almost just blew my cover…if I start acting weird he's bound to tell that banshee and I don't need her hovering right now.'_ Resisting the urge to shake those thoughts out of his head, he cocked his head slightly and asked, "What is it Reg?"

After studying his brother for a few more seconds, Regulus gave a small mental shrug and bounded up to his older brother, jumping up onto the bed beside him only to bombard Sirius with questions. "You'll write me right? Oh, I wish I could go to Hogwarts too!! I can't wait to go!!!! Do you think that the teachers are like what Cissa and Bella told us?" Sirius noticed that he hadn't mentioned Andromeda who had run off just last year to marry Ted Tonks. _'I really need to get him away from our parents' influence…_' Sirius snapped out of his thoughts when he heard Regulus ask him about Quidditch. "You'll get on the house team right? I can't wait to see the Gryffindor's faces when you guys put them in their places!" Regulus took a quick breath and was about to start talking again when Sirius quickly interrupted him.

"I'm not going to be in Slytherin, Reg," Sirius made sure he wasn't looking at Regulus at all as he said this. His eyes stared straight ahead and his voice didn't have any emotion in it at all.

Regulus' head snapped around to stare at his brother so fast that Sirius could swear that he heard Reg's neck pop.

After a few tense seconds in which Regulus only stared at Sirius' face in total shock, he managed to choke out a strangled "What?!"

In any other situation, Sirius would have thought that Regulus' state of shock was amusing but he couldn't bring himself to smile right now. He let out a quite breath. _'Well that's a better reaction to what I was expecting…'_ he thought cynically. He didn't dare even to glace in Regulus' direction. "I'm not going to be in Slytherin. I don't want to be. I can't follow a family that would abandon their own flesh and blood just for the person that she married." His was still as flat and even as it was when he first spoke.

"But…she…She married a mudblood!!!!" Even though he heard the words out of Regulus' mouth, he could tell from Regulus' eyes that he only said the words because their parents had.

"Would you abandon me if I did the same?"

Regulus just stared. Sirius sighed again. _'This isn't going very well, is it? Then again it wasn't ever my strong point, Remus was so much better at this…' _He quickly stopped that train of thought._ 'Ok let's try this again.'_

"Look Reg, I've…been sneaking out of the house for the past year…and going into the muggle town." Sirius admitted softly. Regulus blinked, the only sign that he had heard Sirius at all. "And the people there, they're really nice. Sure they don't have wands and stuff but…they're still people just like you and me. And…" Sirius paused slightly, "they don't…look at me like they expect something great from me." The last part was said so quietly that Regulus could barely make it out.

Regulus opened his mouth to say something but seemed to rethink the idea and closed it without saying anything.

"I'm tired of father looking at me like nothing I do will ever be enough…I'm tired of mother's preaching…I'm tired of Grandfather and his twice damned training sessions. I'll never be the perfect heir that they've always wanted so why bother to try?" Sirius said, the bitterness in his voice almost tangible.

Regulus looked at his brother in total confusion, something that Sirius quickly picked up on. "You're not the heir, Reg." was all that Sirius said, as though it explained everything. _'And really it does…'_ Regulus might have become their mother's favorite in the future, Regulus never had to go through the horrors that Sirius had gone through with their grandfather. The hours of endless dark spells and curses that Sirius had to learn and was subjected to was probably the initial reason he wanted to be nothing like his family, though he didn't realize it until his time in Azkaban.

"What does that have to do with anything?" Regulus asked, sounding somewhere between curious and affronted. Sirius knew that Regulus had always been slightly jealous of the fact that their parents paid more attention to Sirius because he was the first born, but then again Sirius was jealous of Regulus' status of second born and the freedom that came with it.

So instead of saying a biting comment like he wanted to, Sirius just sighed. "Just forget that I said anything about it Regulus." He was too tired to try to continue this discussion with his brother. Regulus looked at him for a split second longer before he got up and started to walk toward the door. He paused at the door, looking back at his brother in one last attempt to understand. When he didn't find the answer that he was looking for, he turned back and continued on through the door, shutting it behind him.

Sirius watched the door for a few seconds longer before he went to pull out his new notebook. He then sat on his bed and began to plan out how to pull the visit with his grandfather off.

That evening, right before dinner, a musical chime flowed through the house which alerted the residents of the house that their guest had arrived. As the rest of the family went into the living room, Sirius hung back slightly. Before walking out of the room, Regulus looked back at his brother in confusion but Sirius just shook his head at him. After studying his brother for a few seconds, Regulus continued out the door into the living room.

Sirius on the other hand had lowered his head and was trying to get his emotions under control. He hadn't seen his grandfather for years but that man left a long lasting impression on Sirius when he was young Sirius wasn't sure he really wanted to walk through that door and see that man again. "Do it for Prongs, Moony and Lily, Padfoot...", he muttered under his breath. Raising his head once more, Sirius took a deep breath to clear away his thoughts before he too stepped into the living room where his grandfather waited.

Arcturus Black was an imposing man with long black hair that was tied at the nape of his neck. His thin eyebrows were slanting over grey eyes that looked like circular pieces of slate. Sirius felt his body unconsciously stiffen in response to seeing his grandfather. He was the true power within the Black family and Sirius had learned at a young age not to displease the man if he didn't want to be punished. He quickly forced his body to relax and took a deep breath, _'Prongs and Moony need me'_, before striding straight to his grandfather. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Regulus giving him a weird look. _'I suppose it's because Reg had never seen me walk towards grandfather with any real confidence.'_ Normally, there was always something about his walk that was stiff and gave off a slightly intimidated countenance, though he always did try to put on a brave face.

At first his grandfather ignored his approach as he addressed Sirius's father, though Sirius could tell from the slight flick of the cold grey eyes towards him that his grandfather knew he was there. "Orion, you seem well." Polite, detached. Sirius' father tilted his head just slightly in acknowledgement, enough to signal his father to continue. "Walburga, as beautiful as ever." Not a compliment, a formality. His mother smiled back, though the smile was cold and the ice of her eyes never melted. "Regulus." Overlooked as always. He wasn't the heir so he didn't matter, not to his grandfather at least. Then his eyes drifted over to Sirius, the reason for his visit. "Sirius." Sirius hesitated one second before he looked up at his grandfather, staring straight into his eyes. Sirius had always hated looking at them. The first time they had reminded him too much of the training that he had to endure underneath the man but now…with the new memories of another life, they reminded him too much of Azkaban, of the cold stone walls and the lifeless eyes of the prisoners who had received the Kiss.

But no matter how much he hated those eyes, he refused to turn away.

"You will have a practice session with me after the meal. After all, you must be prepared so that you do not bring shame to this family." That said, Arcturus turned back to his son, effectively ending the discussion with his grandson. Sirius breathed a silent sigh of relief as those hated eyes turned away from him. His relief was short lived.

"Come" was all that was said as his grandfather turned towards the door that lead to the basement. Sirius gulped silently. '_Relax…all you need to do is walk towards that door, endure a couple of dark spells then start the plan.'_ He finished steeling his will and marched through the door.

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Mmk there's the second chapter! Sorry it took so long to update... Finals here at GA Tech were on Dec 10 – 14 so I was studying like mad for weeks. glares at evil tests Then I got dragged on family vacation time…sighs Didn't really get a chance to start writing until the January 5th… T-T This was originally going to be longer but it's been forever since I updated so I worked to a good stopping point and decided to give you guys the 8 pages that I had done…

Anyway, tell me what you guys think, kk? The first part of it was pretty hard to write 'cause I had no clue how Sirius would interact with his father. I pictured his mother as the more dominate person (and thus the one Sirius hated more) within the Black's relationship, though normally it's the other way around in old fashion families. Kinda like Walburga was the real power though Orion was the actual head of the family.

Also, I've decided that purebloods are bloody hard to write because they're so stiff and formal and…GAH!


	4. Chapter 3

At the Beginning

By: Hyuuga Ayame

Summary: [AU] DH spoilers What would happen if someone was given the chance to change EVERYTHING? He could stop the traitor from ever becoming friends with them …He could save them all…He knew he could. A time travel fic.

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"Talking"

'_Thinking_'

"YELLING"

**Writing**

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Chapter 3: Of Curses and Futures

The Room was the same as Sirius remembered. It was deep within the Black home and was surrounded by numerous protections that had been in place for as long as he remember and made the Room invisible to all those who weren't keyed into the wards. The Room was dark, though not nearly as dark as Sirius remembered it being. The only light was four candles that were in the middle of each of the four wall. The light emitted from them cast an eerie glow on the metal objects and knifes littering the ground.

As Sirius stood by the door, facing his grandfather who had already entered the Room, he hesitated again, cursing his muscles all the while in his mind, seeing his grandfather standing in that hated Room. The first time around, the Room was where he would be taken to train in the Dark Arts, and to experience the twisted view of his family first hand. Like most dark pureblood families, the eldest of each branch of the Black Family went through this type of training, which was supposed to show the power over others that they would have once they could cast the Dark Arts spells successfully. The eldest would then share their "knowledge" with any younger siblings who would follow the eldest's direction because they had been taught to do so since birth.

Most of the time, this training worked and the eldest would proudly represent the Black family at it's darkest. Sirius thought of Bellatrix and the warped sense of perception that these little training sessions had given her. Because of the pain that she endured in her youth, she went on to cause pain in others by joining Voldemort. The training had stained her soul as black as their name.

Sirius was different.

Instead of this training making his soul turn black, it had the opposite effect. Sirius had seen the pain that the curses caused and never wanted anyone to have to go through what he went through in that Room. So instead of becoming dark, Sirius became something else entirely. Instead, he became the 'white sheep' of the Black family, as James used to call him. The Gryffindor within the den of snakes.

Then again, the effect that the training was supposed to have on him was not all lost. There were still moments were his 'inner Black', as he named it, came through. _'Like that time in 6__th__ year with Snape and the Willow'_, he thought harshly. It was moments like those that made him truly hate his family and the way they had warped him.

Sirius snapped himself out of his memories as he heard the sound of footsteps coming towards him. His eyes focused on his grandfather once more and noted the harder glint in his eyes that told Sirius that he was angry. _'Fuck, this is not a good time to reminisce_', he thought as he silently swallowed and continued to move into the Room. As soon as he was within the door, it slammed shut and a spell was shot at him from where his grandfather was standing. Instead of dodging at full speed like his instincts were screaming at him to do, Sirius held himself still for another second before performing a faked clumsy dodge, and fell to the ground. The curse, which Sirius recognized as a mild pain curse, hit him in his left arm instead of the chest where it had been aimed. He sucked in a quick breath and hissed in pain as he clutched his arm to his chest, screaming obscenities in his mind. _'The things that I do so the bastard won't get suspicious,'_ he thought with more than a tad bit of bitterness.

"Get up boy." The cold voice of his grandfather pierced his thoughts. Sirius did so as quickly as he dared, once again ignoring the instincts that told him to go full speed. Not once did his eyes leave his grandfather's form. He remembered that lesson well. The minute that his eyes left his opponent, he would be in a world of pain. As soon as he was fully inside the Room and standing where his grandfather indicated that he should be, his grandfather started to speak.

"As you know, you will be attending Hogwarts soon. As the male heir of the Black family, must remember to uphold our noble name." His eyes then turned slightly darker as the first emotion that he had shown all day rolled through his eyes. Hatred. "Even if the school is now flooded with mudbloods and controlled by that mudblood lover, it is one of the finest institutions in the world. The Black name is still influential were it matters, and you will take your rightful place among your Slytherin year mates. Do not bring shame to our noble name. Understood?" Gagging on the inside, Sirius nodded quickly. "Good. Now, since the mudblood lover has banned the use of dark arts at Hogwarts, I will be giving you supplementary instructions over the winter and summer holidays. Also, I will not be teaching you anymore of your spells from Hogwarts. I see no point in wasting time going over spells that you will be learning at school. Especially since they have no real purpose." With that, his grandfather shifted slightly but in a way that put Sirius' instincts on high alert. His grandfather's wand came up almost quicker than the eye could follow and a dark red spell shot out of it straight towards Sirius. Without even thinking, Sirius quickly dodged out of the way, only to begin to curse in his mind as his grandfather paused to look at him. His eyebrow went up slightly at the fast response, his eyes studying his grandson. He shot off another spell that would be a bit harder to dodge and Sirius let it catch him on his forearm. His grandfather still eyed him suspiciously for a moment but seemed to chalk the first dodge up to luck, something that Sirius was thanking every god that he could remember for. "To start, you will be defending yourself. If you are a true Black, this shouldn't be a problem." And with no further warnings, his grandfather began to bombard Sirius with multiple spells.

Sirius' mind was now hyper aware of the dark magic that was racing towards his person but he knew that he had to control every one of his instincts and let himself be hit. He knew he could fire off the occasional spell that could be second year level at best and only in the intervals were there would have been enough time when he was 10. Every spell that hit sent pain flaring into his mind but he fought down his reaction to curse his grandfather with the strongest spells that he knew with a mantra that played endlessly in his mind. _'James. Lily. Remus. Harry. James. Lily. Remus. Harry.' _Over and over he played those four names in his mind to calm himself down.

After what felt like eternity, the spells stopped. Sirius was panting hard. His entire body felt like it was on fire, his right arm was bleeding slightly, and his vision swam with colors. There was a dull roar in his ears, though the sound of his internal mantra drowned even that out. Then he saw a crimson light flying at him from the direction that his grandfather was in. He knew that light all too well. The Cruciatus. He had to make a split second decision. Take the curse and bear through the pain or dodge with every bit of strength that he had left. He choose the former. The curse streamed towards him as he shifted his body so that the curse would hit his arm instead of his chest.

Lights burned behind his eyes and his nerves set themselves on fire. Thousands of needles all crashed into his body at once only to twist themselves, pull out, and begin the process again. He couldn't remember opening his mouth, or even beginning to scream. All he knew was the pain as it tore at his body in an endless cycle.

When it finally ended, he slumped to the floor in a lack of feeling. He felt numb though his throat was burning. When he was finally able to left his head, his eyes took in the form of his grandfather staring coldly down at him, waiting for him to recover enough to stand. The cold grey eyes screamed disappointment and disgust.

"You should be able to recover faster than this Sirius. You were only under the spell for five minutes." The voice was cold and unfeeling as it always was.

Sirius wanted to laugh. If his throat wasn't so raw, he probably would have. A few seconds under the Cruciatus curse was hard enough for most to endure, much less five minutes. His mantra began again within his mind as he struggled to get up. Once up, his grandfather allowed him a few more seconds to regain his bearings before the endless stream of curses started up again.

Sirius felt his body begin to give out. _'I need to act soon or I won't be able to pull this off.' _It was a few more seconds before he saw his opportunity. His grandfather was in the beginning stages of performing a curse that normally gave the receiving party hallucinations and a brief case of Schizophrenia. Sirius quickly shot off a muffling curse at his grandfather. The last syllable of his curse was cut off and replaced with a muddled version of it. Instead of a purple curse like it was supposed to be, the spell that came out of the wand was a light lavender, so light it was almost white. It streaked towards Sirius' chest, hitting him straight on. He felt a brief warmth on his chest as an amulet he made to absorb curses took the spell for him. _'Perfect. Now to start acting.' _He blinked once, taking in his grandfather's slightly shocked expression, then swayed once before falling forward and landing on his front. There was a slight pause before he heard his grandfather's footsteps come closer to him.

Sirius allowed his breathing to race, and forced himself to let his vision un-focus, as though he was staring at something unseen. He felt his grandfather turn him over and call his name a few times, before swiftly gathering Sirius into his arms and taking him upstairs. _'Shit…'_ Sirius thought, beginning to get dizzy from the lack of oxygen his breathing was inducing, _'I won't be able to keep up this fast pace of breathing for much longer….' _ Quickly racking his brain for solutions, he started to softly speak as incoherently as he could, using as many words that his relatives wouldn't be able to make sense of as possible. This act caused his grandfather to pause slightly, and Sirius could feel his piercing eyes shift down towards him. His grandfather's grip tightened and he moved a little faster than before, swiftly opening the door and summoning Kretcher to fetch Sirius' mother.

Sirius felt himself being set down on one of the couches that were in the main sitting room and heard two people rush into the room. Quickly running out of things to babble, he made his body stiffen and his back arch, before pretending to fall into unconsciousness.

"What's wrong with him?!" he heard his mother almost shriek as she came closer to him. Sirius almost opened his eyes in surprise at the slight tone of worry he could hear in his mother's voice.

"He managed to hit me with a weak muffling curse while I was casting the Alienari curse." His grandfather said, his voice still as cold as it was earlier. Sirius heard the other set of footsteps come a little closer then felt a small hand on his arm. _'Regulus.'_

"Wi-will he be OK?" Regulus managed to stutter out, apparently unnerved by either his grandfather's stare or his brother's state, though Sirius couldn't tell which.

"If he is a true Black" was all that Sirius' grandfather said in reply.

Sirius felt Regulus stiffen in slight shock to their grandfather's words, but they came as no surprise to Sirius. After all, that was the way that their grandfather had always acted. _'Though I suppose that Regulus really wouldn't know that seeing as he rarely was spoken to by the old man.' _Regulus had never been told exactly what went on during the training sessions between Sirius and his grandfather. And because only the eldest went through it, Regulus had never had to experience, even after Sirius was disowned, because by that time, it didn't seem necessary. In their parents eyes, Sirius was the one gone bad, and Regulus was the perfect pureblood heir. _'There was no need to train a perfect heir to become a perfect heir, now was there?'_ Sirius thought sarcastically to himself as his grandfather and his mother were discussing what exactly had happened to him during the training. He could feel Regulus shaking against him, knowing exactly what the curses that his grandfather was listing did to another person. _'Well he's probably about to go into shock…'_ The attempt to amuse himself with dry humor while pretending to be passed out didn't help him relieve any of the stress that he was feeling at the moment.

The voices of his mother and grandfather suddenly paused, then his mother spoke once more, her even tones back to the typical coldness that he had gotten used to, "What should I do with him then?"

He felt his grandfather shift closer again. "His training for the day is done. I will be back in two days time to continue it. If he still is in this state by tomorrow, take him to Madame Nott, she is an accomplished healer who will not question our training methods as the mudblood loving fools at Mungo's would." With that, his grandfather's footsteps retreated towards the fire place, his mother following closely behind.

"Sirius?" Regulus' small voice called out to him after the room was empty. His shaking had somewhat subsided though his voice was slightly trembling. Sirius felt bad for Regulus having to see the act that he was putting on but he needed this to be done more than he needed to comfort his brother at the moment.

When the sound of his mother's footsteps started back towards the room, signaling that his grandfather was gone, Sirius let out a low groan. He felt Regulus still beside him and felt his eyes turn sharply back to Sirius' form. "Mum! He's waking up!" Regulus shouted to their mother. Sirius heard the footsteps speed up, coming to a halt beside him.

He let out another soft groan, and slowly opened his eyes. He saw his brother's face hovering over him, his mother just to the side. "…Regulus?" he said, as weakly as he could, "…Mother?" He plastered a confused expression over his face, "What are you–?" He stopped himself, making it seem as though he just realized his surroundings.

"You were hit with a spell" his mother stated coldly. Sirius was almost relieved at the coldness of her voice, _'Good to see that she's back to her normal, hag self'_

"….I remember getting hit…but the color was weird…kinda light purple-ish" Sirius said slowly, pretending to get memories back.

"You wouldn't have gotten hit if you learned how to move faster", his mother stated, "Really, as the heir to this noble family, you should be able to dodge a few spells." With that, she turned on her heel and marched towards the door. She looked back seconds before leaving, saying, "Your grandfather will be back in two days time to train you again" then continued out of the door.

'_As charming as ever'_ Sirius thought dryly. He slowly sat up, exaggerating the effort that it took to do so because Regulus was still at his side. He glanced at him out of the corner of his eye to see Regulus staring after their mother with an expression that he couldn't quite decipher, though he could see hints of confusion in Regulus' eyes. Sirius shrugged mentally, 'no use dwelling on it…', then shifted enough to catch his brother's attention.

Regulus' face cleared instantly then melted into worry. "Sirius! I'm glad that you're alright!!"

"Of course I'm alright! I've had worse training sessions with grandfather than that one. Actually, that one was relatively Cruciatus free compared to the normal ones." He conciously ignored Regulus' horrified face, _'he always did read too much'_, instead concentrating on cracking his neck because sometime between him hitting the floor and getting to move again he had cramped up his neck. Noticing that his brother was still in a semi-shocked state, Sirius quickly tried to redirect his attention. "Well since training is over, let's go do something!"

Sirius quickly jumped off of the table and began to walk to the door. Noticing that Regulus wasn't following him, Sirius turned back over his shoulder, "You coming?" Regulus blinked then raced towards his brother who was already walking out of the door. Sirius grinned. _'Everything is going according to plan'_ "Come on, you can see the new Quidditch books that I got when mother took me to get school supplies!"

As the two of them were walking by the study where their mother sat talking to their father, Sirius took a deep breath, stealing himself, then stopped dead. Regulus, not expecting the sudden stop, colided with Sirius' back. He looked up curiously at the back of his brother's head, wondering the reason for the sudden stop. Regulus' answer came when Sirus cluched his head for a brief moment, plastering a look of that was mixed with pain and confusion. He started to walk forward before stopping once more, made a sharp turn and walked straight between their mother and father towards their father's desk. Sirius made forced himself into a tunnel vision veiw of the world, focusing only on the paper on his father's desk and the memory of his grandfather sitting, dead, in his favorite chair at his home. He grabbed a quill and a sheet of parchment and began to scribble something onto it, ignoring their mother as she questioned him about what he was doing. When their mother finally got fed up with Sirius ignoring her screaming, she grabbed his shoulder and forced him to turn around towards her. Sirius first heard her gasp in shock and his father dropping his wine glass then standing up and walking over to him. In his mother's eyes he saw the refection of his own face, of his own once blue eyes glowing an eerie white, before turning back to the paper with new determination. This time, his mother didn't say anything, just watched in shock as the image of Arcturus Black dead in his own house began to appear from the quill in Sirius' hand.

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Yay!!! I know what you're thinking "OMG AN UPDATE!!!"

Ok before anyone asks, yes I do realize that I capitalized "room" throughout the chapter. I did this because that room is something very prominent in Sirius' mind because it's the place where most of his childhood was destroyed. And during the first life, he was trained in there for as long as he could really remember. It's always been THE Room for the sole reason that it was his private hell before Hogwarts.

Oh and just to let you all know, I actually looked up when the Black Sisters went to school and all of them but Narcissa (who would have been a 6th year when Sirius was a 1st) are out of school by the time that Sirius gets into school, so NO, I will NOT be having them at school with Sirius. Don't even ask. I'm going to stick with the canon ages as closely as possible. If an age isn't listed, then I'm going to try to be reasonable.

And as an apology to everyone, I'm sooo sorry it took so long for me to get this up TT___TT I'm really trying to work on getting these chapters out regularly but school and my parents aren't making that entirely possible ."""

~Ayame


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